Corrections ‘failing’ prisoners and public as lengthy delays for rehabilitation programmes continue

Blake Hollins-Apiata, who is currently imprisoned at Rimutaka Prison, has experienced a long wait getting into prison treatment programmes.

A teenage offender with alcohol and violence issues sat behind bars, in a cell neighbouring his father’s, for more than a year without receiving any rehabilitative treatment.

Blake Hollins-Apiata has been jailed twice in the past 15 months - first for breaking the jaw of a police officer and then for stabbing a boy.

It has been identified that the 19-year-old needs help with serious violence and substance abuse issues but any steps towards his rehabilitation have been thwarted by the lengthy delays inmates are experiencing in accessing the Department of Correction’s treatment programmes.

Hollins-Apiata’s setback has led to fresh criticisms of a system “failing” both prisoners and the public.

His lawyer Julian Hannam said the teen’s case was not uncommon as many young inmates were not getting assistance at an early stage of their sentences, which risked a loss of hope and motivation among them.

The Parole Board said it was “fundamentally wrong” that Hollins-Apiata has been stalled within the prison system, and a judge has lambasted the Department of Corrections for prisoners’ lack of access to rehabilitation programmes.

Former Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis acknowledged, prior to the General Election, that there have been delays and said it was due to the impacts of Covid and subsequent Corrections staffing issues.

He said the programmes were “ramping back up now”.

But figures show the number of prisoners in programmes were waning long before Covid hit, and have in fact steadily declined by more than two-thirds since 2016.

Hollins-Apiata was jailed in July last year for two years and six months for breaking the jaw of an off-duty police officer.

In August, he returned to court from prison for sentencing on a separate matter. He received another jail term, this time of three years and six months, for stabbing a 15-year-old, and assaulting two other teens, at a party in Taranaki.

At the recent sentencing, Hannam told Judge Gregory Hikaka that despite Hollins-Apiata’s already lengthy period of incarceration, his youth and identified rehabilitative needs, he had not been able to access any treatment programmes behind the wire.

“None. He has a drug treatment programme coming up, but that has not started and that has of course completely stymied any effort he had to apply for parole,” Hannam said.

“Of course, these proceedings played their part as well, but what it shows is the poor resourcing available for our young people in the prison system.”

The delay was not unfamiliar to Hannam. Outside of court, he said “100 per cent of the time” he represented a prisoner making their first bid for parole, after having served one-third of their sentence, the offender was still on a waitlist for treatment.

In Hannam’s experience, a wait period of at least one year for treatment was standard.

“The issue is months more in custody waiting for later parole board hearings. This is often six to nine months, even for those on three-year or less sentences. This is a massive extra length for a young offender.”

Defence lawyer Julian Hannam said, in his experience, there was a standard wait period of at least one year for prisoners to enter programmes.

Hollins-Apiata began somewhat on the back foot. He was monitored for methadone withdrawal at birth and it was still unknown what impact, if any, that has had on his development.

Court documents state his first three years of life were dysfunctional, marred by parental drug and alcohol abuse. He has minimal knowledge of or connection with te ao Māori, and has had little engagement in education, resulting in him leaving school in year 10.

The teen’s recidivist and absent father was in and out of prison for much of his childhood, with several of his jail terms being for violence, and earlier this year, in a situation described by Hannam as “peculiar and disturbing”, the father and son shared side-by-side cells in the same prison.

The teen has grown to abuse alcohol and while under the influence, his behaviour often turns violent. A cultural report also linked his offending to immaturity and bravado.

But Hollins-Apiata has shown insight into his actions and regret for the “pain and hardship” he has caused.

In a letter he wrote to Judge Hikaka, he spoke of having time to reflect while being locked up and he now had a better understanding of his triggers, with the main one being his drinking.

Through “good, properly directed interventions” in the prison system, and release conditions, Hannam said Hollins-Apiata had an opportunity to modify his behaviour and turn his life around.

At the sentencing, Judge Hikaka expressed concern for the delay the teen had experienced getting into a treatment programme.

“That is hard to understand. Why those rehabilitative options could not be initiated as soon as you got to that environment, particularly given your young age,” Judge Hikaka said, adding it was not the first time he had made such a comment on the issue.

“It points to Corrections being in a position to do more than they currently make available, particularly for young people who they detain on behalf of the community at large, and in some respects deals with [the] protection of the public.”

Judge Gregory Hikaka expressed concern for the delay Blake Hollins-Apiata has experienced getting into rehabilitation programmes.

The judge said delaying programmes did not help optimise rehabilitation processes, which, in his view, should be a clear focus for anyone incarcerated.

Programmes provided in prison focus on motivation to change, cognitive-behavioural interventions and general skills to help a prisoner return to the community.

Offence-focused programmes include one-on-one psychological treatment with high-risk sexual and violent offenders, for example, and there are intensive programmes and treatment units to assist prisoners with drug and alcohol issues.

On May 4, Hollins-Apiata went before the Parole Board in relation to the jail term he is serving for attacking the police officer.

He was declined parole “given that he has done nothing within the prison environment to address the serious violence or the substance use that contributed to that violence”.

But the board knew that wasn’t a failing on the teen’s behalf.

In its decision, the board said it was “frustrating” Hollins-Apiata had not been able to start on an alcohol and drug treatment programme or the youth programme, which would help him with his violence and substance issues and was stipulated in his sentence plan, while he was awaiting sentence for the latter offending.

“The board agrees that it is fundamentally wrong for a young man who is only 19 years of age to be stalled within the prison system,” the decision stated.

“There is no reason in our view why he cannot get started on a substance abuse programme.”

While Parole Board chairman Sir Ron Young declined NZME’s request for comment on the issue, two years ago he penned a letter to Davis, raising concerns about prisoners’ lack of access to rehabilitation programmes.

The Parole Board's Sir Ron Young has previously raised concerns about prisoners’ lack of access to rehabilitation programmes.

In the letter, Young criticised the department and explained the need for significant improvement.

He said in order to be eligible for parole, prisoners have to prove they have undertaken work to reduce the risk they pose to society, which was usually achieved through a treatment programme.

But often this wasn’t happening until late into an inmate’s sentence.

Young blamed inadequate resourcing for the delays which at the time Davis denied.

When approached, before the General Election, about Hollins-Apiata’s case, Davis told NZME that years of managing Covid in prison and the subsequent staffing challenges faced by Corrections have had an impact on some prison programmes.

“That is ramping back up now, with over 2000 rehabilitation placements in the past financial year, but are yet to recover fully,” he said.

“I expect Corrections to keep working on restoring access to timely rehabilitation as quickly as possible.”

He said rehabilitation was an “incredibly important” part of the prison system and essential to giving people the best shot at reintegrating back into society.

But Corrections’ annual reports show the number of prisoners in treatment programmes has steadily decreased over the past six years.

From July 2015 to June 2016 there were 8372 placements before it decreased by almost half to 4806 over July 2018 to June 2019 and then dropped further to 2086 over July 2021 to June 2022. The prison population recorded at the end of those periods were 9532, 9969, and 7728, respectively.

Former Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis said rehabilitation programmes had been impacted by Covid and Corrections staffing issues. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Before the General Election, National Corrections spokesperson Mark Mitchell said Corrections was under immense staffing pressure and struggling to cope.

He believed the department had suffered a “total failure” of leadership and as a result, both prisoners and the public were being failed.

“It’s all very well to set a target to reduce the prison population but we’ve seen several instances of people leaving prison without proper and adequate rehabilitation and that has had fatal consequences.”

Mitchell rejected there was an issue with resourcing, saying he believed it was a priorities problem.

Any Government that was serious about public safety would prioritise rehabilitation, he said.

“Prisons are not just ‘universities for crime’ as the Government has said, they are a place where we can and should provide effective rehabilitation to make sure the public is kept safe when a sentence ends and a prisoner is released.”

While Mitchell said it was unacceptable inmates were waiting a year to enter a programme, Dennis Goodin, Rimutaka Prison direction, told NZME treatment wasn’t far off for Hollins-Apiata.

His security classification has been reviewed and decreased since his recent sentencing, opening him up to a greater range of rehabilitation programmes, education and employment activities.

National Corrections spokesperson Mark Mitchell said the Department of Corrections had suffered a total failure of leadership. Photo / Mark Mitchell

“Case Management staff have met with him this week [ending September 3] to talk about a suitable pathway, and we are completing referrals.”

Goodin acknowledged Corrections has a duty of care to people in prison – not only to keep them safe and well but also to give them every opportunity to turn their lives around.

He said every effort was made to provide rehabilitation treatment to inmates before their release date, or first parole hearing.

This, however, was a complex exercise, he said.

“Participants need to be suitable for the intervention, motivated to participate, and located in the right place, and we need to balance parole eligibility dates with the capacity of the units where services are provided as well as the staff that are available to provide that service.”

Goodin said a number of factors determine when people in prison attend a programme.

Individuals were assessed with respect to their risk of reoffending and their treatment needs. If they meet the eligibility criteria for a particular programme, they were placed on the National Service List, which operates like a queue, to await a space.

Those eligible, who have an identified treatment need, were prioritised in the first instance by their parole eligibility date.

But not everyone eligible for treatment was considered ready to begin, Goodin said.

“A person’s low level of motivation may also need to be addressed prior to them being considered suitable for engagement in treatment.”

Other considerations can include security classification, and whether the prisoner is segregated or in the mainstream prison population.

“Provided people in prison are eligible and have expressed motivation to complete the programme, they are routinely provided with an opportunity to take part in a programme prior to their parole eligibility date.”

Tara Shaskey joined NZME in 2022 as a news director and Open Justice reporter. She has been a reporter since 2014 and previously worked at Stuff where she covered crime and justice, arts and entertainment, and Māori issues.